Adaptive microlearning embedded in the flow of work is the pinnacle of corporate training and L&D. But is it feasible?
Microlearning boosts learner engagement. It enables learning content to be tightly related to learners’ work which gives it a heightened sense of relevance. This dynamic leads to better retention.
And when microlearning is delivered via an adaptive learning path, more benefits accrue. the biggest benefit is its efficiency. Learners only see the content they need to see. Training delivered this way feels more personal (because it is). It offers more meaningful feedback to learners. This helps overall attitudes toward training.
But at what cost? The average time to develop courseware in a corporate environment is estimated to be 67 hours for classroom courses, 55 hours for online courses, and 18 hours for microlearning components.
But how many micro elements make up the content of an online course? If we assume that the information is presented with equal efficiency, the same information coverage in a micro course would be about 72 hours.
Yes, microlearning saves time for learners, but wow! These numbers mean that unless you are serving a great many learners (and perhaps even if you are), microlearning will be difficult to justify. Throw in the time needed to string the components together into a matrix, and adaptive microlearning looks even more out of reach.
The average salary for a course developer is $92,000. This translates to about $44 per hour. Therefore, just the salary portion of the cost to produce microlearning content equivalent to an online course would be well over $3,000.
No wonder the top barrier to content development cited (by 67% of respondents) in a recent survey was “limited resources.”
We believe that adaptive microlearning embedded in the flow of work is attainable by any organization of sufficient size to justify investment in an LMS. The pinnacle of our profession may be cost-effectively realized through what we call social learning sandboxes.
References
https://elearningindustry.com/benefits-of-microlearning-case-studies
https://elearningindustry.com/adaptive-learning-in-corporate-training-benefits-know
https://www.td.org/insights/how-long-does-it-take-to-develop-training-new-question-new-answers